Tuesday, March 12, 2013

Sixteen-year-old Kyra, a highly-skilled potions master, is the
only one who knows her kingdom is on the verge of destruction—which means she’s
the only one who can save it. Faced with no other choice, Kyra decides to do
what she does best: poison the kingdom’s future ruler, who also happens to be
her former best friend.

But, for the first time ever, her poisoned dart…misses.

Now a fugitive instead of a hero, Kyra is caught in a game of
hide-and-seek with the king’s army and her potioner ex-boyfriend, Hal. At least
she’s not alone. She’s armed with her vital potions, a too-cute pig, and Fred,
the charming adventurer she can’t stop thinking about. Kyra is determined to
get herself a second chance (at murder), but will she be able to find and
defeat the princess before Hal and the army find her?

Kyra is not your typical murderer, and she’s certainly no
damsel-in-distress—she's the lovable and quick-witted hero of this
romantic novel that has all the right ingredients to make teen girls swoon.

REVIEW

Poison is fun, lighthearted, and full of action and comedy.

Unlike many “the world is ending unless mission x is
completed” books, Bridget Zinn does a great job of infusing sarcasm, hijinks,
and comedy in the book. I think of one my favorite characters is Rosie the pig.
First off, just the fact that a book would a tracking pig, demonstrates the
nature of the book, second the fact that Rosie would fall in love with a large
dog, is further proof of light humor that is scattered throughout the book.

Of course, Poison has more than a Princess that doesn’t want
to marry, a tracking pig, and a poisoner who would love a pie right about now,
it also has lots of action. Kyra is action packed, besides knowing how to kick
some serious butt, (which she’s given ample opportunity to do), she also is
equipped with a number of awesome and exciting potions. Everything from a dish
washer potion, to a sleep potion, to deadly potions. Coupled with the fact that
she’s only missed once (when she went after the princess, her best friend),
she’s a force to be reckoned with.

That said something else that really was quite appealing about
the book, was the way it was laid out. Kyra tried killing her best friend and
the princesses of the realm seemingly out of nowhere, but failed. Now she’s
been on the run for three months and is trying to finish the job. As the book
progresses readers will be introduced to the reasons behind Kyra’s actions, how
she became best friends with the princesses, and even how she became the best
potions master in the realm. It was nice to have the action start out right
away, having the protagonist already failed once. It felt different, and helped
establish the story in a way that swept the reader off in its currents.

All in all I really liked Poison. It’s a fantastic début and
would love to read more by this budding new author.

Tuesday, March 5, 2013

Brooding, leather jacket-wearing Nyx Fortuna looks like a
20-something, and has for centuries now. As the son of the forgotten fourth
Fate, Lady Fortuna, he has been hunted his entire life by the three Sisters of
Fate that murdered his mother.

Fed up and out for revenge, Nyx comes to Minneapolis following a tip that his
aunts have set up a business there. His goal ­ to bring down his mother's
killers and retrieve the thread of fate that has trapped him in the body of a
twenty year old unable to age or die.

But when a chance meeting with the mysterious, dangerous and very mortal
Elizabeth Abernathy throws off his plans, he must reconcile his humanity and
his immortality.

REVIEW

When I picked up Strange Fates I really liked the premise. The
son of the lost Fate, Luck, who had been killed by her sisters, is out for
revenge. Plus, the Fates are not the only magical houses in town, there’s
Hades, Poseidon, and Zeus. It seemed like there would be magic, action, and a
cool plot. And a lot of that did happen.

I thought Nyx’s story was cool, that he was an immortal who
wanted to die but couldn’t (side note: if you’re looking for a really good book
that has done that story line REALLY well, then check out Jennifer Fallon’s
Tide Lord series). And that was neat, it adds a nice flavor to the book. I also
really liked some of the side characters Nyx meets such as Talbot, Ambrose, and
Sawyer. Specifically, I really liked Ambrose’s back story (or what you learn of
it in this book) and how it gave brief glimpses into the Nyx’s own history.

Of course, one very big drawback for me was the way that Nyx
fell for Elizabeth. From page one anyone could tell it was all a trick, and the
author kept hinting (actually hinting is to small of the word, it’s much closes
to shouted from the rooftops) that this was going to blow up in Nyx’s face. Not
only that but for him to STILL claim to be in love with her, after the truth
really does come out that she’s been playing him was just a bit much for me to
swallow.

All in all I wanted to like Strange Fates. It had some fun
characters and an interesting
plot. But it was riddled with holes in the story (which I’m sure will be solved
in books two and three, but still bothered me that things would be brought up
and then never addressed) and had an unbelievable love story angle that
weakened the book overall because it kept bringing me out of the story to groan
about how ridiculous it was. Overall it left me more than a bit disappointed.